HOULTON, Maine — Sales of recreational marijuana are now prohibited in Houlton following Tuesday’s election.
Residents voted 916 in favor (61 percent) and 591 opposed (39 percent) to prohibit the sale and growth of recreational marijuana in the community, which means no stores, retail shops or growing facilities for retail marijuana can open in the town.
Houlton Town Attorney Dan Nelson goes over the legal ramifications of the town vote for councilors during a special organizational meeting Wednesday. (Joseph Cyr)
The measure does not impact medical marijuana growers or dispensaries.
Question No. 1, which asked if residents wished to rescind the town’s marijuana ordinance from Feb. 21 and replace it with one approved by the board July 24, also passed by a vote of 638 in favor and 468 opposed, but is now a moot point.
Town Attorney Dan Nelson said Wednesday that because the two questions offered competing views on the same subject matter, the question that received the greatest amount of votes takes precedent.
“There is a provision in the (town’s) charter that if there are items on the ballot that conflict, the one that receives the most votes is the one that will control,” Nelson said. “Although the ordinance received enough votes to pass, the initiative (Question 2) received more votes and voids that ordinance.”
Therefore, because more people voted for Question 2, “an ordinance to prohibit retail marijuana in Houlton,” that ordinance is the one the town must now follow and all retail establishments are now prohibited.
Council elections
In elections for town council Tuesday, Susan Tortello (950 votes), Jane Torres (747) and Halston Britton (741) were elected to three-year seats on the board. Other candidates were: Christian Robinson, with 616 votes, Edward Lake with 526, and Robert Monroe with 327.
The council held an organizational meeting Wednesday afternoon to swear in the new councilors and to elect a new chairman. That process proved tricky as two individuals expressed interest in serving as chairman.
Rosa McNally was first nominated for the position by Tortello, while outgoing chairman Bill McCluskey was nominated by Sue Waite-York.
McNally’s bid to be chair failed by a 3-4 vote, with councilors Tortello, Britton and McNally voting in favor, and Jane Torres, McCluskey, Raymond Jay and Waite-York opposed.
The votes were then flip-flopped with McCluskey winning the chairman’s gavel with a 4-3 tally (McNally, Tortello and Britton opposed).
In other election results, Susan McLaughlin (1,255 votes) and Darryl Scott White (1,179) were both re-elected to three-year terms on the RSU 29 school board. A third available seat had no candidate, and the council will fill that seat at a future meeting.
David Gates was elected to the town’s Board of Budget Review with 1,364 votes, while Mike Jenkins received five votes as a write-in candidate. Both will serve three-year terms on the board, while Donna Barnard Johnson was elected as a write-in to a two-year term on the board with three votes.
Richard Goodwin (1,315 votes) and Galen Hogan (1,270) were both re-elected to the Houlton Water Company board of directors. Iva Sussman received 1,336 votes for a five-year seat on the Cary Library board of trustees.
Local results for the four state referendum questions showed Houlton residents opposed Question 1 (casino for southern Maine), by a vote of 352 in favor and 1,156 opposed.
Question 2 (Medicaid expansion) received 783 “yes” votes and 722 “no” votes. Question 3 (bond issue) received 1,042 affirmative votes and 450 negative votes. Question 4 (state pension) received 850 yes votes, with 576 opposed.
